Ben Balmford

Ben Balmford is currently pursuing a PhD at the Univeristy of Exeter's Land, Environment, Economics and Policy Institute (LEEP). Before joining Exeter University Ben graduated with BA in Biological Sciences from Oxford University in 2016. During a research year, he continued to work on his undergraduate research looking at imperfections in land sparing, and wolf population dynamics in Yellowstone. Ben also completed internships with Brendan Fisher (University of Vermont) and Paul Ferraro (Johns Hopkins University) giving him a broader understanding of the role of economics in environmental science.

Ben is now pursuing a PhD, co-funded by Exeter University and South West Water, aimed at improving Payments for Ecosystem Service mechanisms. He will focus his effort on understanding situations when monitoring can only occur at a group level, and will look at how self-policing, uncertainty (and therefore insurance) may effect results. This work will be supervised by Professor Brett Day, Professor Ian Bateman, Dr Amy Binner and Dr Greg Smith, and will draw upon methods from both Game Theory and experimental economics.